Kenya’s Business Registration Service (BRS) is set to undergo a major system upgrade to improve its performance, reliability, and security. During this time, services under the business registry on the government portal, the e-Citizen, will be temporarily inaccessible. The BRS Director-General, Kenneth Gathuma, has stated that the new system will include new features, additional services, and benefits that will enhance user experience.
The BRS is responsible for registering companies, partnerships, and corporations, as well as business name searches, bankruptcy filing, hire-purchase, and security rights. Its services have been available on the eCitizen portal, Kenya’s official digital payments platform for government services.
In the previous financial year, the BRS registered over 73,000 entities, including 50,876 business names, 34,697 private firms, and 50 public companies. Additionally, it registered 100 foreign companies, 251 companies limited by guarantee, and 278 limited liability partnerships. However, the BRS also struck off 1,068 entities from the registry in the same period.
The Kenyan government has been committed to digitizing its services to streamline processes and make them more accessible. The eCitizen portal is a vital component of this plan, offering citizens the chance to access a range of government services online.
This system upgrade is an essential step towards this goal of digitization, ensuring that government services are more secure, efficient, and accessible to everyone. Although the inaccessibility of services may cause some inconvenience during the upgrade period, it will provide a long-term benefit to businesses registered in Kenya and contribute to the country’s overall economic growth.